Efforts are underway to dismantle the Philippines’ online gambling — or POGO — industry after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. announced Tuesday its total ban, “effective immediately.”
The POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator) sector is largely dominated by Chinese nationals. It thrived under former president Rodrigo Duterte, who was content to license and tax the POGOs provided they didn’t take bets from Philippine citizens. Instead, they target China, where all forms of online gambling are illegal.
There’s been increasing anxiety about the industry in the Philippines. Many POGOs been found to have trafficked workers to toil in hidden scam centers as virtual slaves. And, at a time of heightened tensions between Manila and Beijing over disputed territories in the South China Sea, there are concerns the POGOs represent a potential threat to national security.
The ban comes amid an ongoing Senate investigation into the industry and links to organized crime. The investigation has focused on the identity and activities of Alice Guo, a small-town mayor who has been accused of being a Chinese spy involved in human trafficking via her connections to a local POGO.
“Disguising as legitimate entities, their operations have ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming, such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture – even murder. The grave abuse and disrespect to our system of laws must stop,” Marcos told lawmakers to a standing ovation during his annual State of the Nation address.
There are 46 licensed POGOs in the Philippines and maybe as many as 400 unlicensed outfits, according to government estimates. On Tuesday, the gaming regulator, PAGCOR, said it would begin annulling licenses. Marcos said he wants a complete shutdown of the sector by the end of the year.
The POGOs are estimated to employ 40K people directly and indirectly. The regulated industry generates an estimated 166.5bn pesos (US$2.9bn) of revenue a year.
In March, more than 800 Filipinos, Chinese, and other nationals were rescued from a scam center posing as a POGO about 70 miles north of Manila.
In June, 150 Chinese nationals were freed after police raided a POGO compound in Porac, Pampanga province, where torture devices were also discovered.
Over 4,000 POGO-linked crimes — including kidnapping and murder — were reported between 2017 and 2023, according to police data.
Incredibly, police have also uncovered underground hospitals based inside POGO compounds. These are used to treat trafficked workers and to provide cosmetic alterations to fugitives to help them evade capture, according to authorities.
